Portland Pirates 4, Connecticut Whale 1

By Daniel Grosso Hartford, CT, March 23, 2012 - The Whale were defeated by the Portland Pirates, 4-1, Friday night at the XL Center. Portland winger Brett Sterling netted the winning goal, while goaltender Peter Mannino kept Connecticut guessing all night, saving 29 of 30 shots faced. Whale goaltender Chad Johnson’s line wasn’t as strong as he has grown accustomed to this last month. Johnson surrendered four goals on 27 Portland shots. “I feel good, I feel like I’m in good position all the time making good saves and then [the puck] just doesn’t go where you want,” Johnson said. “I try to make a save and put it in a good spot and there’s a guy right there.” The Whale fell victim to poor puck bounces on the evening, as Portland’s goals were all products of rebounds, turnovers and deflections. “Sometimes when bounces don’t go your way you got to find a way to get through that,” Captain Wade Redden said. “Tonight we didn’t do enough good things to get the win.” Redden caught